Leroy Ponpon doesn't know whether to lock himself in his
flat in Monrovia because of the deadly Ebola virus, or because he is gay.
Christian churches' recent linking of the two have made life hell for him and
hundreds of other gays.
Ponpon, an LGBT campaigner in the Liberian capital, says
gays have been harassed, physically attacked and a few have had their cars
smashed by people blaming them for the haemorrhagic fever, after religious
leaders in Liberia said Ebola was a punishment from God for homosexuality.
"Since church ministers declared Ebola was a plague
sent by God to punish sodomy in Liberia, the violence towards gays has
escalated. They're even asking for the death penalty. We're living in fear,"
Ponpon told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone from Monrovia.
Some religious leaders have their own interpretation of the
causes of Ebola.
Earlier this year, the Liberian Council of Churches said in
a statement that God was angry with Liberians "over corruption and immoral
acts" such as homosexuality, and that Ebola was a punishment.
In May, Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of the Catholic Church of
Liberia said that "one of the major transgressions against God for which
He may be punishing Liberia is the act of homosexuality," local media
reported.
Francois Patuel, Amnesty International's representative in
West Africa, said there had been reports of threats and violence against the
LGBTI community in Monrovia since the incendiary remarks made by the local
Christian leaders.
"Amnesty has received pictures of cars that reportedly
belong to gays with their windows smashed as well as reports that gays have
been forced from their homes and had to go into hiding," Patuel told the
Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Neither the Catholic Church nor the Liberian Council of
Churches could be reached in Monrovia. Representatives of the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops and the Episcopal Church did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
COVER OF DARKNESS
Ponpon prefers to move at night. He is scared to be
identified in daylight after the local press splashed his picture and phone
number across the front pages. But the Ebola curfew, running from 11 p.m. to 6
a.m., has complicated things.
"In the day, we move around wearing sunglasses and
disguises. The problem with moving at night is that it is not safe in Monrovia
in the dark, and also, if you violate the Ebola curfew, it is punishable by
imprisonment," he said.
The curfew has affected the LGBT community in another way.
When activists contact the police for protection, they reply that because of
the Ebola emergency and the curfew put in place to combat the disease, they
cannot help, Ponpon said.
Violence against the LGBT community was already common in
West Africa before the Ebola outbreak, and same-sex relationships are still
largely taboo in many African countries. A recent Gallup poll showed Africa as
the worst continent for gay people.
National laws in West Africa are in line with public
sentiment. In Liberia, 'voluntary sodomy' is a first-degree misdemeanor with a
penalty of up to one year in jail, according to the International Lesbian Gay
Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
Patuel said Amnesty had received no reports of similar
incidents in other Ebola-stricken countries in the region, and urged African
states to stand up for minorities.
"In August this year the African Union passed a
resolution for the protection of LGBTi rights. The authorities must adopt this
into their national law and take action against homophobic statements to
protect its citizens," Patuel said.
In Liberia, Ponpon's demands are simple: "Right now,
all we want is protection. We want the government to come forward and say that
this is a minority group and they deserve the same rights as anyone else and
then people will stop attacking us."
Reuters
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